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DB’s Steelers Dudes & Duds: Jaylen Warren Shines, T.J. Watt M.I.A.
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- DB’s Steelers Dudes & Duds: Jaylen Warren Shines, T.J. Watt M.I.A.
The Pittsburgh Steelers fell flat in their home opener, losing to the Seattle Seahawks in a very winnable game, despite what the 31-17 final score would indicate . Parsing out the blame for this loss could go a plethora of ways, but the reality is that all three phases—offense, defense, and special teams—were all inconsistent and played a role in the outcome. As always, let's talk about some winners and losers from week two pending film review.
Dude: RB Jaylen Warren
There weren't many bright spots for the Steelers offense in this one, but Warren was fantastic all afternoon. 43% of his rushing attempts were successful thanks to him consistently getting what was blocked for him and then some. His 65-yard catch and run was nothing short of spectacular, with him bobbing and weaving through a myriad of Seahawks defenders. Most teams are moving away from the old-school workhorse back ideology, but there's an easy argument to be made that he should be playing more snaps regardless.
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Dud: QB Aaron Rodgers
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 14, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The four-time MVP was sharp in the season opener, but his home debut in the steel city was rough, to say the least. He finished with a 33% passing success rate and failed to complete a pass further than 10 yards down the field until the fourth quarter, which tells the story of how restricted everything felt through the air. The biggest concern right now is the lack of mobility. There were moments when Rodgers wanted to tap into creation mode, but his legs just wouldn't allow him to play that style any longer.
Dude: ILB Patrick Queen
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen in a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 14, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The Steelers' run defense as a whole was marginally better today in contrast to last week's debacle versus the Jets . One player who stepped up to the plate in that regard was Patrick Queen, who was flying downhill and playing with his hair on fire. He finished with a team-high four stops in the loss, per PFF. It wasn't perfect by any means. He was a step behind on the touchdown throw in the second half, and he wasn't able to bring down Sam Darnold on a blitz up the middle. It was at least a step in the right direction.
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Dud: ILB Payton Wilson
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 14, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Off-ball linebacker is one of the toughest positions in this sport, and when a rookie holds his own out of the gate, you expect to see him take a step forward in year two. So far, that has not happened for Payton Wilson. Whether it was taking poor angles in the run game or getting lost in coverage, it's been two weeks that he'll want to forget. You can tell that the Steelers don't want to rotate guys along the spine, but if his play doesn't pick up soon, it may push them to give other guys an opportunity.
Dude: K Chris Boswell
Even in the loss, it was business as usual for Boswell in the kicking game, going 3-3 with all of them right down the middle. Head coach Mike Tomlin dubbed him as a "serial killer" last week, and it's easy to see why he has so much confidence sending him out on the field.
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Dud: OT Troy Fautanu
Pittsburgh's young right tackle was abused in pass pro versus a deep Seahawks edge rushing group with varying skill sets. He was preliminarily tagged with five pressures, and his performance as a whole was noticeably worse than his season debut last week. There will be peaks and valleys throughout 2025 given that this is essentially his rookie season, but as a first-round selection tasked with protecting an aging quarterback, there's a great deal of pressure on him to perform.
Dude: EDGE Nick Herbig
With Alex Highsmith exiting this one early due to an ankle injury, Herbig was forced into action often in his return from injury. From a pass-rushing perspective, he didn't miss a beat, routinely challenging Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross up the arc. His best rep caused the quarterback to step up into the pocket, directly into the lap of one of his teammates. He was also the lucky recipient of a tipped pass turned interception and showed some impressive moves with the ball in hand afterwards. We'll see what the run defense looked like on tape, but you can almost always count on him providing a spark as a rusher.
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Dud: EDGE T.J. Watt
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt in a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 14, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Seattle was cautious about leaving their right tackle isolated versus Watt in pass protection, frequently chipping him with additional bodies in the first half. With that being said, Pittsburgh just needs more production from him than what they've gotten so far this season. Could the coaching staff do more to help him? Absolutely, but he's not the only edge rusher that has to fight through a lot of attention on a weekly basis.
Dud: RB Kaleb Johnson
The Iowa product has had a tough start to his professional career, with Kaleb Johnson struggling to even get on the field offensively as the coaching staff has put their faith in Kenneth Gainwell instead. Not knowing the new kickoff rules is inexcusable at this level, to say the least. That special teams blunder was the nail in the coffin to their chances of starting a winning streak. If he's not going to add value on special teams and can't be trusted to run the ball, it's difficult to justify him getting a helmet in the short term.
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This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : DB's Steelers Dudes & Duds: Jaylen Warren Shines, T.J. Watt M.I.A.
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